Former Langley Speedway Late Model driver Brand Gdovic will drive for the Xfinity Series team purchased by his

Area businessman Rick Gdovic's purchase of the Viva Motorsports team that raced until mid-June in the Xfinity Series is arguably the most significant national move by an individual in Peninsula-area stock-car racing in a decade. The most recent Langley Speedway alum to make such a national splash was former division champion Denny Hamlin, who debuted in a Sprint Cup Series car in 2005 and is now among its top drivers.

Xfinity is NASCAR's second-tier series, and the Viva team ran competitively in it for six years before ceasing operations because of finances in mid-June after the Michigan race. Gdovic purchased all of Viva's stock-car racing assets last week and will race out of its former China Grove, N.C., shop under the banner of his Precision Performance Motorsports team.

Gdovic said he is unsure when the team, which ran the first 13 Xfinity races of the season, will resume racing in the Xfinity Series. He said races at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1 and at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 8 are possibilities, because of his son Brandon Gdovic's familiarity with those tracks.

Rick Gdovic said that Brandon will be one of the drivers when the team rejoins Xfinity as PPM. Brando, a former K&N Pro Series East winner driving the full Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series schedule this year, raced twice this season for Viva in the Xfinity Series at Texas and Richmond.

The current plan, Gdovic said, is to run selected Xfinity races to finish this season, while securing additional sponsorship and drivers to run most of the races in 2016. He said that PPM Xfinity cars will be available to rent by others as well.

Jamie Dick and Jeffrey Earnhardt also drove for Viva this season. Earnhardt's finishes of 12th, 15th and 16th were the team's best.

"We are excited about the purchase of Viva's operation," said Gdovic, who said his Xfinity team will be sponsored by Pronius, American Messaging, WindStax and his own business, ComServe Verizon Wireless. "They have continued to build race assets and a reputation over the past few years.

"We plan to continue their drive to become a top-level Xfinity Series operation that offers great value for our sponsorship partners, and another step up the ladder for our driver development program."

Kaitlin McKeown, Daily Press

Kaitlin McKeown, Daily Press

Gdovic, a former K&N driver, said that the purchase of Viva includes 12 cars for superspeedways, road courses, intermediate tracks and short tracks. He also purchased race engines, shop and office equipment and a hauler. He plans to employ about nine people at the China Grove shop.

Gdovic calls his new team "upper second-tier" in the Xfinity Series, or one that is just below the top-tier teams affiliated with Sprint Cup garages. Gdovic did not disclose the terms of the purchase, but said running an upper second-tier team costs about $3 million per season.

Joining the PPM Xfinity team in the China Grove garage will be the PPM K&N Pro Series East cars of driver Gray Gaulding.

Gdovic's Late Model and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified cars, and his increasingly active driver development program, will operate from his shop in Gloucester.

Purchasing the Viva team is part of Gdovic's plan to develop young drivers by providing them the equipment and coaching to succeed. The acquisition of the Xfinity team gives those development drivers a potentially bigger pathway to follow.

Brandon Gdovic, who had 21 top 10s and nine top fives in three-plus K&N seasons, does much of the coaching. He recently guided Justin Carroll to a seventh place K&N East finish in a PPM-built car in his series debut.

"Because of PPM's success developing young talent, we are receiving significant interest in our training programs," Gdovic said. "The seats for next season are filling up quickly."